Africa on Obama: "He's black, not African"

Team Observers — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 12:26:15 +0100

Barack and Sarah Hussein Obama, his grandmother. Photo posted on Flickr.

Obama's roots won't go forgotten. And especially not in Africa. Our Observers all over the continent share their excitement and hope, but also their doubt that there will be any change for Africa if the black candidate is elected.

Never before has an African-American candidate come so close to presidency in the US. According to the latest polls, published by Reuters/Zogby on Monday, Obama is ahead of his competitor in five of the eight crucial swing states, including Ohio - the one that tipped the election for George Bush in 2004.

Just a week before the big day, we asked our Observers in Africa what Obama's success means for them.

Reverend Jackson wants to "cut Obama’s n*ts off"

Sophie Team Observers — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 18:14:44 +0200

Civil rights activist and friend of the late Martin Luther King, Jr., Jesse Jackson made a blunder on Sunday when he said something he shouldn't have... on Fox News. He didn't realise the cameras were rolling when he leant over to his neighbour to tell him, regarding Obama, "I wanna cut his nuts off".

The Reverend Jesse Jackson was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988. He was appearing on "The O'Reilly Factor" on Sunday when he insists that he didn't know his microphone was turned on. His comments wouldn't be so surprising if he had not publicly announced his support for Barack Obama's candidacy. He has since apologised and been forgiven by the Illinois senator.

Video posted on YouTube by jbranstetter04

Fox didn't release the video until Wednesday.

race

Africa on Obama: "He's black, not African"

Reverend Jackson wants to "cut Obama’s n*ts off"